CLAS-240 Athletic Infrastructure

Vessel, Panathenaic Amphora, by Euphiletos Painter: Men running footrace; made of terracotta, in Black-Figure style (Archaic period, dated to ca. 530 BC; now at MMA, NY, 14.130.12)

Mosaic: Dancing and exercising girls; from Villa Romana del Casale, Piazza Armerina (Late Antique period, dated to 4 c. AD)

City/town plan: Public buildings; of Pompeii

City/town plan: Republican buildings; of Pompeii (Republican period)

Palaestra plan of Pompeii (Imperial period)

“Small Palestra,” view of site of Pompeii

Relief sculpture: Horserace frieze plaque; from Poggio Civitate (Murlo), Etruria

Statue sculpture: Boy jockey on horseback; from Cape Artemesion, made of bronze (Hellenistic period, dated to 3rd or 2nd c. BC (?); now at ANM 15177)

Relief sculpture: Young horsemen frieze (W); from Acropolis, Athens (Classical period, dated to 447-438 BC; now at BM, London)

Drawing Reconstruction of statue sculpture: Charioteer group; from Delphi, made of bronze (Archaic period)

“Charioteer,” in-the-round sculpture, from Delphi, made of bronze (Classical period, dated to 478-474 BC)

“Charioteer,” in-the-round sculpture: back of head; from Delphi, made of bronze (dated to 478-474 BC)

“Charioteer,” in-the-round sculpture, from Delphi, made of bronze (Classical period, dated to 5th c. BC; now at Delphi Museum)

Nobility

Muse, hear me, and beside Deinomenes sing loud praises for the reward of the four-horse chariot. The joy of his father’s victory is not alien to him.

Pindar Pythian 1

Today you must stand beside a beloved man, Muse, the king of Cyrene with its fine horses, so that while Arcesilas celebrates his triumph you may swell the fair wind of song that is due to the children of Leto and to Pytho

Pindar Pythian 4

“Monte Leone Chariot,” object, from Monteleone, Umbria, made of bronze, ivory & wood (Archaic period, dated to ca. 530 BC; now at MMA, NYC)

“Monte Leone Chariot,” object, from Monteleone, Umbria, made of bronze, wood & ivory (Archaic period, dated to ca. 530 BC; now at MMA, NYC)

“Monte Leone Chariot,” object, from Monteleone, Umbria, made of ivory, wood & bronze (Archaic period, dated to ca. 530 BC; now at MMA, NYC)

“Monte Leone Chariot,” object, from Monteleone, Umbria, made of wood, bronze & ivory (Archaic period, dated to ca. 530 BC; now at MMA, NYC)

“Monte Leone Chariot,” relief sculpture, from Monteleone, Umbria, made of bronze (Archaic period) (now at MMA, NYC)

Relief sculpture: Horse races in the Circus Maximus; from Ostia, made of marble (Imperial period)

…the Circensian Games…have no novelty, no variety, nothing, in short, one would wish to see twice. I am the more astonished that so many thousands of grown men should be possessed again and again with a childish passion to look at galloping horses, and men standing upright in their chariots. If, indeed, they were attracted by the swiftness of the horses or the skill of the men, one could account for this enthusiasm. But in fact it is a bit of cloth they favor, a bit of cloth that captivates them. And if during the running the racers were to exchange colors, their partisans would change sides…

Pliny Letters 9.6

Stadium architecture, from Athens (Modern period)

“Olympic Stadium,” stadium architecture, from Olympia (dated to c. 4th c. BC)

Stadium view of site of Olympia: Entrance to Olympic Stadium; made of stone (Hellenistic period)

City/town view of site of Rhodes: Hellenistic sanctuary; stadium 660 ft

Stadium view of site of Delphi: From Mt. Parnassus (Roman period)

City/town map of Rome (Republican period)

“Circus Maximus,” stadium architecture, from Rome (Modern period)

3-D Model Reconstruction of “Circus Maximus,” stadium architecture, from Rome (Imperial period)

3-D Model Reconstruction of “Stadium of Domitian,” stadium architecture, from Rome (Flavian period)

City/town map of Rome (Constantinian period)

Aerial view of site of Piazza Navona, Rome (Modern period)

Opus sectile: Consul as charioteer among circus factions; from Basilica of Junius Bassus, Rome, made of glass, marble & stone (Imperial period, dated to AD 330-50; now at Palazzo Vecchio, Florence)